Rail joint and adjustable splicing element therefor



RAIL JOINT AND ADJUSTABLE SPLICING ELEMENT THEREFOR R. P. LAMONT Original Filed April 20, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1NVENTOR.

Dec. 8, 1936.

ATTORNEY.

Dec. 8, 1936. R. P. LAMONT 2,063,317

RAIL JOINT AND ADJUSTABLE SPLICING ELEMENT THEREFOR Original Filed April 20, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ff f J 7 6 m V I0. 7 ,7 6 e g 6 ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 8, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAIL JOINT AND ADJUSTABLE SPLICING ELEMENT THEREFOR Application April 20, 1935, Serial No. 17,450 Renewed April 6, 1936 9 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in rail joints and adjustable splicing elements therefor.

One of the objects of this invention is to produce a rail joint for the abutting ends of railway rails that will provide for adjustment to compensate for wear of the parts at the joint or for inequalities in rolling of rails or the bars or both and will provide an eflicient, tight splice; that will enable the initial raising of the railends level with each other and the fastening thereof in level position so as to provide smooth level rail surfaces across the joint; that will provide for a perfect fit between the under side of the head of the rail and the base flange thereof and will have a perfect bearing on the upper surface of the base flange of the rail; that will enable subsequent adjustment or periodic tightening by simple tools to provide for maintenance of the rail ends in level position and to maintain such smooth level rail surface across the joint; that will provide a strong and durable splicing element to produce a strong spliced joint; that will provide parts having an interlocking engagement to prevent transverse relative movement and capable of ready and easy locking against longitudinal movement relatively to each other by the use of simple tools and that will provide a joint which when tightened will remain in tightened condition for a long period of time.

Another object of my invention is to produce an adjustable rail-joint splicing element composed of two parts,a splice-bar member and a wedge-member,-in which the splice-bar memher will be as strong and durable as a one-piece non-adjustable bar.

Still another object is to provide an adjustable splice-element of the type specified in which the splice-bar member will have a height substaniially equal to the distance between the under side of the head and the upper surface of the base flange of the rail, and may therefore be made heavy and strong and durable.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a splice-bar member having a thickened base portion and provided in the bottom surface thereof with a longitudinal groove having the whole or portion of its surface uniformly inclined longitudinally and the wedge member will be considerably longer. than the bar and will have an upper inclined or wedge surface of a length substantially similar to the length of the inclined surface of said groove, a complemental shape transversely and with a similar degree of inclination longitudinally, thus increasing in crosssectional. area. over the V inclined portion.

Still another object of my invention is to reduce within proper limits the lengths of the inclined portions of the aforesaid groove bottom and of the wedge member and thus for a given pitch to increase the degree of lift afforded by a given amount of longitudinal relative movement of the inclined surfaces on each other.

Another object of my invention is preferably to provide a wedge member having a thin end capable of being bent and to so proportion the relative lengths and heights of the bar and wedge that when the two part splice element is properly tightened in place, a section of the thin end of the wedge member will project beyond the end of the splice member to permit an upward bending of said thin end to lock the wedge member against outward longitudinal movement within the groove in the bottom of the splice bar and thus tolock the tightened two-part splicing element against displacement in relation to the joint.

With these and other objects in view, the invention comprises the combination of members and arrangement of parts so combined as to coact and co-operate with each other in the performance of the functions and the accomplishment of the results herein contemplated, and comprises in one of its adaptations the species or preferred form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:---

Fig. 1 is a View in side elevation of one side of a rail joint showing my invention applied to a bar having a top edge contacting at the middle section and offset at the end sections;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the line 2.-2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig, 3 is a cross-section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section taken adjacent to the middle of the joint and showing the parts before the wedge members are inserted;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of a bar member, the section being taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is a view in side elevation of one formof the wedge member employed by me;

Fig. 6 is a view in plan of the end of'the wedge member shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 7 is a view in cross-section of another rail joint showing a modified form of splice-bar and wedge member;

Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are cross-section views of additional rail-joints showing modified --forms *of splice bars and wedge members;

Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate in longitudinal section and side elevation a bar and wedge with inclined surfaces of reduced length and greater lift on the type of bar shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 13 is a side elevation of a bar having a straight top with a groove having an inclined surface extending the entire length of the bar.

Referring now to these drawings and particularly to Figs. 1 to 6 thereof, i-l indicate rails the ends of which it is desired to splice and 3 indicates a rail-joint splice element which is positoned across the joint 4 and inserted between the bottom surface 5' of head 5 of the rails and the upper surfaces 6' of the base flanges 6 thereof. A pair of these splicing elements are employed at each joint, one splicing element being positioned on each side of the rail.

In accordance with my invention a splicing element is composed of a splice-bar member 1 and a wedge member 8.

The splice-bar member I may be of any conventional configuration at its top surface, i. e., it may be straight or crowned, but a middle contact section is preferably adapted as shown to fit beneath the joint and the upper surface I of said middle section abuts the bottom surface 5 of the rail head and the fillet portions 5* of the rail, the web or body portion 1 of said bar extending parallel to and as shown slightly offset from the web 5 of the rail. Said bar is of a height substantially equal to the distance between the underside of the rail head and the base flange of the rail and extends to substantially equal distances on opposite sides of the bolt holes and the longitudinal axis of the bar, thus providing an area for the bar which will enable it to be made as strong, heavy and durable as may be desirable. The base or bottom portion 1' of the splice-bar member 1 is preferably somewhat thicker than the body or Web portion and is provided in its bottom surface with a longitudinally-disposed groove 1 of any suitable cross-sectional configuration. The bottom of said groove is inclined longitudinally either for the whole or a portion of the length of the bar so that said groove will be deeper at one end than the other and the inclined surface will uniformly decrease in depth from one end of said surface to the other. As illustrated in Figs. 1, 5, 11 and 13, the groove is deeper at the left hand end of the bar which I shall term the deep end I and shallower at the right-hand end which I shall term the shallow end 1 The wedge member 8 is adapted to be inserted into said groove through the insertion end thereof or may be initially fitted into said groove in such relationship that its bottom surface will be flush with the bottom surface of the bar. It comprises an elongated wedge-shaped member of any suitable cross-sectional form and is considerably longer than the bar member 1 to permit projecting portions to extend'on opposite sides of the bar.

Said wedge member has an upper surface 8' of a shape transversely which will be complemental to the shape of the bottom surface of the groove. Said inclined portion will also have a degree of inclination longitudinally similar to that or the bottom of said groove and said inclined part will increase in cross-section uniformly from the thinner to the thicker end or vice versa. This wedge member has a bottom surface 8? contacting with the transversely inclined surface 6 of the base flange 6 of the rail so as to provide a perfectbearing there on and in the form of wedge shown in Figs. 8 and 9, this flange-contacting bottom is inclined transa Versely for this purpose. The upper surface of said wedge member will be inclined longitudinally over the whole or a portion of its length and said inclined surface portion will preferably correspond in length with the inclined portion of the groove. The thicker end of the wedge member will have an extension portion projecting beyond the deep end of the groove and by hammering on the end of this extension portion, the wedge may be driven further between said groove and flange of the rail.

In applying the splicing element, the bar memher with the wedge member disposed within the groove, as aforesaid, is secured, though not fully tightened by bolts 9 and nuts 9' which bolts extend through the bolt holes 10 in conventional manner. These bolt holes are preferably elongated vertically or enlarged to permit movement of the bar vertically in relation to the bolts. The wedge member 8 is now driven further into the groove by hammering the extension at the deep end of said groove. The inclined surfaces of the bar in the bottom of the groove and the inclined surfaces at the top of the wedge member will thus first be moved into contact with each other and thereafter further movement will cause a sliding of the inclined surfaces in relation to each other. The driving is continued till the top surface of the middle section of the bar is lifted into tight engagement with the under surfaces of the heads of both rail ends, thus aligning the rail ends with each other and providing a tight-joint therebetween. In this position the opposite thin end of the wedge member extends a short distance beyond the terminal end 1 of the groove in the bar, after which the nuts are tightened up on the bolts. In splicing elements for new rails, the bar and wedge members will cause the delivering and receiving ends of the rails to be aligned as aforesaid and to assume proper relative positions and in the case of worn rails, the wedge member may be driven further in so as to cause further sliding contact and a levelling of the top surfaces of the rail heads. In both cases, the wedge is locked in place and for this purpose the projecting portion of the thin end is preferably bent upwardly against the terminal end of the bar to cause a secure locking of the two parts together and a tight joint to be produced. I

When my wedge element is thus used in combination with a bar which is crowned or has a middle-contact top section as shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 11, the lifting action of the wedge is concentrated at the joint of the rail ends and these rail ends may be elevated or lifted slightly above the level of the track to produce a desirable crowning of such rail ends.

Obviously, the joint may be periodically tightened, when necessary, by a mere driving further in of the wedge and a further bending of the part of the thin end which is further projected through the shallow end of said groove.

In Figs. 2 to 6, I have shown my preferred form of groove and wedge member and in Figs. 7 to 10 I have shown modified forms or shapes of grooves and wedges. In Figs. 2 to 6, the wedge top and groove bottom are similarly rounded or arcuate; in Fig. '7, the wedge top and groove bottom r provided with fiat portions I I, II and the wedge is provided with a ridge I l while a similarly shaped depression ll is formed in the bottom of the groove. In Fig. 8, I have shown a construction in which the wedge top is fiat, as shown at 12, and the groove bottom is similarly formed, the Wedge being held in place against transverse movement by an apron 12 at the outer lower longitudinal edge of'ithe bottom of the bar member. Fig. 9 shows a construction similar to Fig. 8, except that the apron l3 at the lower longitudinal edge of the bar member approaches closer to the base flange and theinner lower edge flange, thus providing a deeper groove and a bar member of greater height and area.

In Fig. 10, I have shown still another form of wedge member having an angular top l4 gable-' roof-shaped in cross-section and a complemental shaped groove M. In this figure I have shown my invention applied to another conventional form of splice-bar member having an .outwardly projecting flange I4 In Figs. 11 and 12, I have illustrated'still another longitudinal configuration of wedge member and groove. In these figures, the inclined portion of the groove is reduced in length so as to enable an increase in pitch and a greater lift of the bar with a given relative movement. In this embodiment of my invention, a portion l5 of the groove bottom at the insertion end is flat, the middle portion I5 is inclined and the opposite end l5 is also flat, so that the inclined middle portion occupies about three fourths of the length of the bar, which is a sufiicient surface to provide an efficient bearing while as aforesaid permitting an increase in the pitch of the incline and a greater lifting effect to be produced with a given degree of movement. The wedge member "5 is of greater length than the bar, and is provided with flat portion 46', a middle portion I 6 having an inclination corresponding in length and pitch to the inclined middle portion l5 of the bar member and a flat thin end portion l6 part of which may be turned up as indicated at "3 to lock the members together when the wedge is driven into the groove and members tightened in position thereby in the same manner as hereinabove stated in regard to the wedge 8 and its receiving groove.

When inclined Wedge surfaces shorter than the length of the bar are employed in a bar having a middle-contact top-section, as shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 11, the lifting effect is further concentrated at the joint and the aforesaid desirable crowning of the rail ends may be effected with a relatively short movement of the wedge member and relatively short inclined surfaces on the wedge and of the bottom of the groove in the bottom of the bar.

It will be seen from an examination of Figs. 1 to 3 that the splicing element on one side of the webs of the rail ends has the complementary wedging surfaces thereof inclined longitudinally in a direction opposite to the complementary inclined wedging surfaces of the splicing element which is arranged on the other side of the web of the rail ends, and in the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the wedge members will thus be driven in beneath the bars from opposite ends of the pair of splicing elements. These wedging elements thus moving in opposite directions along the inclined surfaces at the bottom of the bars will cooperate with each other in accomplishing the objects of the invention hereinabove specified and will particularly provide a broader and more firm support for the bars and also avoid any tendency to tilt the same.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A joint embodying, in combination a pair of rail ends arranged together in abutting relationship and provided with heads and base flanges, a splicing element comprising a splice bar member disposed in a substantially vertical I3 also approaches closer to the.

plane'between'the top surface of' the baseflange' and the bottom surface of the rail head in substantial parallelism with theweb of the rail and being substantially.coextensive in height with the space between the under side of the rail head and the top of thebase flange, asingle elongated wedge member extending across the meeting surfaces of said rail ends, between one longitudinal edge of said bar member and an adjacent surface of the rail, said bar member and said wedge member having complementary inclined surfaces and one of said members being provided with a groove into which the other member fits to prevent transverse relative movement, and means for fastening said bar to the rails.

2. A joint embodying, in combination a pair of rail ends arranged together in abutting relationship and provided with heads and base flanges, a splicing element comprising a splice bar member disposed in a substantially vertical plane between the top surface of the base flange and the bottom surface of the rail head in substantial parallelism with the web of the rail and being substantially coextensive in height with the space between the under side of the rail head and the top of the base flange, a single elongated wedge member of greater length than said bar member extending across the meeting surfaces of said rail ends, between one longitudinal edge of said bar member and an adjacent surface of the rail, said bar member and said wedge member having complementary inclined surfaces and one of said members being provided with a groove into which the other member fits to prevent transverse relative movement means for locking said two members against longitudinal movement and means for fastening said bar to the rails.

3. A joint embodying, in combination a pair of rail ends arranged in abutting relationship and provided with heads and base flanges, a splicing element comprising a splice bar member disposed in a substantially'vertical plane between the top surface of the base flange and the bottom surface of the rail head in substantial parallelism with the web of the rail and being substantially coextensive in height with the space between the under side of the rail head and the top of the base flange, said bar member having at the bottom edge thereof a groove provided with a longitudinally-disposed inclined bottom surface, a single elongated slidable wedge member insertable from one end of the bar and extending across the meeting surfaces of said rail ends, and being provided with a complementary longitudinallydisposed inclined top surface adapted toslide along the bottom surface of the groove and a transversely inclined bottom surface adapted to slide on the flange of the rail, means for locking said members together in tightened position and means for fastening said bar to the rails.

4. A joint embodying, in combination a pair of rail ends arranged in abutting relationship and provided with heads and base flanges, a splicing element comprising a splice bar member disposed in a substantially vertical plane between the top surface of the base flange and the bottom surface of the rail head in substantial parallelism with the web of the rail and being substantially coextensive in height with the space between the under side of the rail head and the top of the base flange, said bar member having at the bottom edge thereof a groove provided with a longitudinally-disposed inclined bottom surface, a single elongated slidable wedge member extending across the meeting surfaces of the rail ends,

and having a complementary longitudinally-disposed-inclined top surface adapted to slide on the bottom surface of the groove and a bottom surface adapted to slide on the said rail-flange, a portion at the thin end of the wedge member bent into contact with the end of the bar and means for fastening said bar to the rails.

5. A joint embodying, in combination a pair of rail endsarranged together in abutting relationship and provided with heads and base flanges, a splicing element comprising a splice bar member disposed in a substantially vertical plane between the top surface of the base flange and the bottom surface of the rail head in substantial parallelism with the web of the rail and being substantially coextensive in height with the space between the under side of the rail head and the top of the base flange, said bar member being provided with bolt holes and having an area substantially balanced on opposite sides of the bolt holes, a single elongated slidable wedge member insertable from one end of the bar and extending across the meeting surfaces of said rail ends, and between one longitudinal edge of said bar member and an adjacent surface of the rail, said bar member and said wedge member having complementary inclined surfaces and one of said members being provided with a groove into which the other member fits to prevent transverse relative movement, and bolts extending through said bolt holes for fastening said bars to the rails.

6. A joint embodying, in combination a pair of rail ends arranged together in abutting relationship and provided with heads and base flanges, a splicing element comprising a splice bar member disposed in a substantially vertical plane between the top surface of the base flange and the bottom surface of the rail head in substantial parallelism with the web of the rail and being substantially coextensive in height with the space between the under side of the rail head and the top of the base flange, said bar member being provided with bolt holes and having an area substantially balanced on opposite sides of the bolt holes, an elongated slidable wedge member insertable from one end of the bar and extending across the meeting surfaces of said rail ends, and between one longitudinal edge of said bar member and an adjacent surface of the rail, said bar member and said wedge member having complementary inclined surfaces of less length than the length of the said bar and wedge members and horizontal flat portions on opposite sides of said inclined portions, and one of said members being provided with a groove into which the other member fits to prevent transverse relative movement.

7. A joint embodying, in combination a pair of rail ends arranged together in abutting re1ationship and provided with heads and base flanges, a splicing element comprising a splice bar member disposed in a substantially vertical plane between the top surface of the base flange and the bottom surface of the rail head in substantial parallelism with the web of the rail and being substantially coextensive in height with the space between the under side of the rail head and the top of the base flange, said bar member being adapted to contact with the underside of the rail head at the middle portion of its top surface and offset thereupon at opposite sides of said middle portion and being provided with bolt'holes and having an area substantially balanced on opposite sides of the bolt holes, an elongatedslidable wedge member insertable from one end of the bar and extending across the meeting surfaces of said rail ends, and between one longitudinal edge of said bar member and an adjacent surface of the rail, said bar member and said wedge member having complementary inclined surfaces of less length than the length of the said bar and wedge members and horizontal flat portions on opposite sides of said inclined portions, and one of said members being provided with a groove into which the other member fits to prevent transverse relative movement. a

8; A joint embodying, in combination a pair of rail ends arranged together in abutting relationship and provided 'with heads and base flanges, a splicing element comprising a splice bar member disposed in a substantially vertical plane between the top surface of the base flange and the bottom surface of the rail head in substantial parallelism with the web of the rail and being substantially coextensive in height with the space between the under side of the rail head and the top of the base flange, said bar member being provided with a top rail-contacting surface of less extent than the length of the bar and having in the bottom edge a groove provided with a longitudinally-disposed inclined bottom surface, a single elongated wedge member disposed in substantially the same plane as said barmember and having a complementary longitudinally-disposed inclined top surface adapted to slide on the bottom surface of the groove and provided with a. bottom surface adapted to slide on the rail flange, said complementary inclined surfaces of said bar and wedge member being of less length than the length of the bar, and means for fastening said bar to the rails.

9. A rail joint embodying, in combination a pair of rails having ends arranged together in aligned relationship and provided with webs, heads and base flanges, a pair of splicing elementsfor said rail ends having one member of said pair arranged at each side of the webs of said rail-ends, each of said splicing elements comprising a splice-bar member and a single elongated wedge member disposed between a longitudinal surface of said bar member and an adjacent surface of the rail ends, said splice bar member being substantially coextensive in height with the space between the under side of the rail-head and the top of the base-flange and disposed between said rail parts, said splice-bar and wedge members being provided with complementary inclined surfaces, one of said bar and Wedge members having a groove into which the other member fits to prevent transverse relative movement, the splicing element on one side of the rail ends having the inclined surfaces thereof inclined longitudinally in a direction opposite from the inclined surfaces of the splicing element on the other side of said rail ends, and bolting means for fastening said splicing elements to said rail ends.

ROBERT P. LAMONT. 

